PLIK AND PLOK. 3.17 



upon their credulity for his own advantage. The Gitano is a pirate, 

 like all others of the same species, with the form of an angel and the 

 heart of a demon. His heart of course has been warped from virtue 

 by sundrv assassinations, which the fatal bent of circumstances have 

 necessitated him to commit, to revenge the murder of a father and 

 the dishonour of a sister; and after this preparatory process he is 

 qualified to take his stand on the deck of a vessel as the ironhearted 

 captain of a lawless band. Most of our readers must be aware that 

 a great part of the coast of Spain is inhabited by bold adventurers, 

 who exercise the trade of smuggling as their forefathers have done 

 before them from generation to generation. Nothing can be finer or 

 more picturesque than the appearance of these contraband heroes 

 mounted on their fine Andalusian horses with their cavalier equip- 

 ments and costume ; their bold and undaunted demeanour, and the 

 swarthy beauty of their forms arid countenances. We have often 

 thought they would furnish fine materials for the novelist, and we 

 are surprised that Luc has not managed to make a little more of 

 them, and to exhibit them in more attractive colours. But though 

 he sometimes sketches with ability and accuracy, he does not seem 

 gifted with an inventive genius, or with the power of weaving his 

 web of circumstances so as to produce a sustained interest through- 

 out his tale. 



The inhabitants of the little town of Santa Maria are thrown into 

 a state of the greatest consternation by the appearance of the dark 

 vessel of the Gitano coming to an anchor off the coast. The barber's 

 shop is crowded with the eager news-gatherers, and all is bustle and 

 curiosity. The dark deeds of the Gitano are the subject of sundry 

 recitals, and various are the conjectures upon the object of his ominous 

 visit to the shore of Santa Maria. Of course the Gitano is a listener 

 to the senseless prattle, and electrifies the assembled gossips by dis- 

 covering himself, and then disappearing as if by magic. 



But the curiosity and surprise vanish in the all-absorbing interest 

 of the bull-fight that is fixed for the morning. Here, again, the 

 Gitano prepares a fresh surprise for the thoughtless inhabitants of 

 Santa Maria. The games had begun : the bull was a most noble 

 animal, and the light-limbed matadors were performing feats of skill 

 that drew upon them the applause of the crowd, and the smiles and 

 acclamations of their mistresses. The circus was situated on the sea- 

 shore, and was only accessible by two gates. On a sudden the gate 

 which fronted the government-box was violently flung open, and a 

 cavalier presented himself in the circus. 



" He was not a Chulilo, for he did not wave in the air the thin veil of red 

 silk, nor did he brandish the long lance of the picador, nor the double-edged 

 sword of the matador ; neither was his cap festooned with ribands, nor his 

 dress embroidered with gold. He was habited in black, after the fashion of 

 the Croatians. - He wore leather boots, falling in numberless folds upon his 

 legs, and a mariner's hat, surmounted by a white plume, was on his head. 

 He was mounted on a spirited black horse, caparisoned in the Moorish style, 

 a pair of richly-mounted pistols hung at his saddle-bow, and he carried in 

 his hand one of those short, narrow sabres usually worn by marines. As 

 soon as he appeared the bull retired to the other extremity of the arena, pre- 



